One-pot synthesis of flower-like Bi2S3 nanoparticles for spectral CT imaging and photothermal therapy in vivo

Spectral computed tomography (CT) imaging agents are the key to spectral CT imaging with an unprecedented signal-to-noise ratio in vivo. However, there is still extreme lack of high-performance contrast agents. Herein, we present a facile and green strategy for the fabrication of uniform flower-like Bi2S3 nanoparticles (NPs) for spectral CT imaging and photothermal therapy in vivo for the first time. High-quality Bi2S3 NPs are obtained by simply heating the mixture of Bi(NO3)(3) and glutathione in ethylene glycol without the need for adding toxic agents and inert gas protection. The proposed Bi2S3 NPs exhibit good monodispersity, high Bi content (60%), favorable water solubility, strong absorption in near-infrared windows, good biocompatibility and excellent CT and spectral CT imaging abilities due to the high K-edge energy of Bi (91 keV). Not only the accurate gastrointestinal tract spectral CT imaging but also the evaluation of the effect of intestinal obstruction surgery was achieved using the Bi2S3 NPs. Then effective tumor photothermal therapy in vivo was realized. This study proposes a facile and green method for the synthesis of high-quality Bi2S3 NPs, and proves the promising potential of Bi2S3 nanomaterial as a high-performance spectral CT imaging agent.